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Demian Bichir will work with the ACLU to spotlight the need for fair immigration reform and fight against human rights violations at the border.

Demian Bichir, ACLU Ambassador Membership Card

New York, NY (PRWEB)April 03, 2014

Oscar-nominated actor Demian Bichir, who valiantly portrayed an undocumented worker looking for a better life for his son in A Better Life, and currently stars in FX's critically acclaimed drama The Bridge, has signed on as the American Civil Liberties Union's Ambassador for immigrants' rights.

As an ACLU Ambassador, Bichir will support the ACLU's efforts to protect and expand the civil rights and liberties of immigrants, which include pushing back against overzealous state and local immigration enforcement, working to ensure that human rights are not violated at the border, and advocating for fair immigration reform.

"America is built on the courage, creativity, and work ethic of millions of immigrants who came here with a dream for a better life,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "Demian Bichir has lifted this national narrative through his exceptional acting, and will now lend his passion and voice to our organization’s work to secure and protect the civil liberties of immigrants."

Launched in October 2013, the Ambassador Project pairs personalities from film, television, music and comedy with ACLU priority issues. Ambassadors promote their respective issues in various ways, from participating in press conferences to using social media to spread timely messaging.

Bichir will have opportunities to meet with members of Congress, participate in legislative hearings, author op-eds, host screenings of A Better Life followed by discussions about immigrants' rights, and speak about immigration issues during public appearances, among other activities.

"Millions of hard-working human beings have crossed the border, and through perseverance and sacrifice they have created better lives not only for their families, but for their communities and for the country. This is the time to build more bridges, not walls," said Bichir.

Bichir joins an impressive ACLU Ambassador Project roster of six Ambassadors: Harry Belafonte, who appeared in a video promoting the ACLU's Smart Justice Fair Justice Campaign to End Mass Incarceration; W. Kamau Bell, who amplifies the ACLU's racial justice work to his large Twitter following; Lewis Black, who has been interviewed while on tour and used his social media accounts to showcase the ACLU's efforts fighting voter suppression in Kansas and North Carolina; Melissa Etheridge, who wrote an op-ed published by CNN spotlighting the ACLU's call for an end to marijuana arrests; Jesse Tyler Ferguson, whose ACLU work to promote the freedom to marry included partnering with Patricia Michaels from Project Runway to design a bow tie exclusively for the New Mexico marriage equality campaign; and Cyndi Lauper, whose True Color Fund is in a strategic collaboration with the ACLU on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues.